4.7: Orthopedic Disabilities

Image Source: Tracy Lee Carroll. Flickr. CC-BY-ND 4.0

Fig. 4.7. Preschool boy with arm cuff crutches and leg brace.

Orthopedic and Physical Disabilities

A physical disability is a condition that impacts a child's ability to use their body.

Each physical and health disability category has a unique history. It was not until the 19th-century that physicians began to understand the underlying causes of disorders that resulted in physical and health disabilities. Before Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), many children with physical and health disabilities were denied access to a public education or segregated from their peers. Most school buildings could not accommodate wheelchairs or students with limited mobility. However, in 1975, the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act guaranteed a free and appropriate public education for children with disabilities in the United States.

Physical disabilities are conditions that affect movement and can interfere with a chid's basic motor control (walking and standing) as well as fine motor control (writing, holding, or manipulating small objects using the hands.) Not all physical disabilities are orthopedic impairments. Children with physical disabilities may have orthopedic impairments which involves the skeletal system-bones, joints, limbs, and associated muscles, or they may hae neuromotor impairments which involves the central nervous system, and affects the ability to move, use, feel, or control certain parts of the body.

While they are two distinct and separate types of disabilities, they may cause similar limitations in movement.

Children with orthopedic impairments make up one of the most diverse groups of exceptional children due to the many types of diseases and disorders that interfere with the normal functioning of the muscles or bones. The range of medical services, educational placements, and therapies is equally diverse and highly specific to the person and their needs. They often require highly specialized interventions to optimize their potential.

Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) Definition

Orthopedic impairment: “means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a student's educational performance." This includes impairments due to the effects of congenital anomaly, disease, or injury

• congenital anomalies
  • clubfoot or other limb defects
  • hip dysplasia
  • brittle bone disease (osteogenesis imperfecta)
  • scoliosis
  • cerebral palsy
    • caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain and affects a person’s ability to control their muscles
  • spina bifida
    • an opening in one or more of the spinal column vertebrae that cause mild to severe physical and intellectual disabilities
  • muscular dystrophy
    • a group of muscle diseases caused by mutations in a person’s genes that result in muscle weakness and decreased mobility.
• diseases
  • polio
  • bone tuberculosis
  • connective tissue disorders
• injuries
  • amputations
  • fractures or burns

Image Source: Disability Rights Maryland

Fig. 4.7.1. African American and white preschool boys with preschool Hispanic girl with leg braces seated in a small wheelchair.

Inclusive Strategies in the Classroom

There can be many educational challenges related to a student’s mobility impairments and you might be wondering…what are some things we can do in the classroom for kids with orthopedic impairments?

Typically input from, the child's doctor’s input will play a huge role, but also, the child’s IEP team will have a plan in place based on the child’s ability in the classroom. There may also be the need to modify the classroom so the child. has equal access to the same education as their peers.

Every child will be represent a unique situation, depending on the degree of severity of their disability and their functional limitations. For example, a child who uses a wheelchair could potentially have trouble maneuvering around the classroom so modifications and accommodation will be made depending on the individual child.

Here is list of possible accommodations for students with orthopedic impairments:

• extra time or extended time to get to class or complete an activity
• preferential seating in class if a child has a wheelchair or walker (close to the door)
• accessible transportation
• special arrangements for navigating the building in general (hallways, bathroom, etc.)
• frequent breaks
• adjustable furniture

Sources

• Accommodations for Students with Orthopedic Impairments. The Adapted Classroom.

• Students with Physical or Health Disabilities. Psychology of the Exceptional Child. LibreTexts, Social Studies, Library. Shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Diana Zaleski (Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI)) .